Covid care home death figures: Crown Office data reveals at least 3,400 coronavirus deaths occurred in care homes across Scotland during lockdown

Newly released data shows there have been at least 3,400 deaths related to Covid-19 at care homes across Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic.
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A third of Covid-related death in Scotland has occurred in care homes between March 2020 and April this year, according to data released to BBC Scotland by the Crown Office.

The Crown Office data represents a breakdown of every presumed and confirmed Covid death in a care home that has been reported to them.

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It shows the prosecution service was reviewing at least 3,400 deaths linked to the virus as of April 8.

The Crown Office has published the number of care home deaths it has considered across Scotland since the beginning of lockdown (Photo:John Devlin).The Crown Office has published the number of care home deaths it has considered across Scotland since the beginning of lockdown (Photo:John Devlin).
The Crown Office has published the number of care home deaths it has considered across Scotland since the beginning of lockdown (Photo:John Devlin).

National Records of Scotland (NRS) recorded 3,292 care home deaths over the same period.

The Crown Office's data – part of wider investigation to determine if the deaths should be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry or prosecution – is collated from a wider number of sources than the NRS figures.

The Crown Office data shows that the care home with the largest number of Covid-related deaths was the Erskine Home facility, which recorded 32 deaths.

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Rutherglen and Elderslie were the second most affected care homes, with both recording 29 deaths each.

In Edinburgh, Braid Hills Nursing Centre recorded the highest amount of deaths (25), with the Capital recording around 250 deaths across its care homes in total.

In Fife, Lomond Court Nursing Home recorded the highest deaths (19), with around 130 deaths recorded in the homes of the council area in total.

Falkirk saw New Carron Court Nursing Home recording the highest number (26), whilst the area recorded around 80 Covid deaths in homes.

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Across the board, the new data revealed that some individual facilities accounted for a large percentage of a local authority’s Covid-related care home deaths.

According to the data, the larger providers often reported larger numbers of deaths.

Death rates for the bigger operators fell when averaging out the fatality death count across the number of facilities they run.

Overall, there have been more than 10,000 Covid-related deaths in Scotland.

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On Sunday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a UK-wide public inquiry into the pandemic by the end of the year.

The First Minister added that she would move forward with a Scottish-only probe if a UK wide inquiry could not be agreed within a reasonable time.

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